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In the midst of development, do not lose ourselves (Penang Institute, 2017)

When it comes to sustainable city, (Evelyn) Teh Lay Hoon, Senior Analyst of Urban Studies at Penang Institute, said that Copenhagen, Taiwan, and Japan are usually the cities that immediately pop up in everyone’s minds, but to her – what matters more is that in the process of development, the unique characteristic of the city should not be lost. 

Redefining Development and the Hidden Cost of Land Reclamation in Penang (Heinrich Böll Foundation Southeast Asia, 2019)
“… until such a time when the public and decision-makers are able to grasp a more nuanced understanding and critique the environmental and social costs of the neoliberal urbanisation narrative, the definition of what constitutes ‘development’ will remain a divisive discourse.”

Penang fishermen rally for justice (The ASEAN Post, 2019)

“During the protest, representatives from the group submitted memorandums to several ministers. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said, following the march, that the government will look into the PSR project to confirm whether actual harm is being done to the fishermen and the environment.”

What Does Climate Action Look Like? (Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim, 2020)

“Challenging the powerful economic vested interests is to take a hard and honest look at systems change and at ourselves.”

Navigating Malaysian Cities: Walking in the Midst of Covid-19 (UN-HABITAT, 2020)

“The pandemic has changed everything we ever knew about the world, most visibly our cities. The streets which were once teeming with life, movements, and sounds - now quieter, subdued and sometimes surreal. The questions then in people's minds : Where do our cities go from here? Can we go back to how it was before? What is the new normal?”

Malaysia fishermen in last-ditch bid to stop Penang reclamation (Al Jazeera, 2021)

“The dredging and sand mining work required over more than 20 years of reclamation works will “translate into undersea habitat destruction, hindrance of fish migration, impacts on food web structure, and oxygen depletion,” Penang-based environmental and urban policy researcher Evelyn Teh told Al Jazeera.”

One island is enough for Penang (Nikkei Asia, 2021)

“In any case, the 20 years of dredging and sand mining needed to complete the project would severely damage the undersea habitat and fish migration patterns, as well as increase water turbidity, noise and vibration, according to Evelyn Teh, a Penang-based environmental and urban policy researcher.”

The future of urbanisation is intelligent, green design (The Star, 2021)

““The existing flood levels can be made worse when combined with the increased intensity and frequency of rainfall caused by climate change, and exacerbated by all the land surface, irrigation and river alterations that human beings have been doing with little to no consideration of the impacts of climate change,” says Teh, who is from the NGO Jaringan Ekologi Dan Iklim (Jedi), an affiliate of Gabungan Darurat Iklim Malaysia, which is a movement to address Malaysia’s response to the global climate emergency.”

Earth Day special: The ins and outs of climate negotiations (COP) (KAMY, 2021)

“In this episode, we talked to Evelyn Teh, a Senior Researcher at Third World Network. We asked her all of our questions related to climate negotiations (also known as COP - Conference of Parties); what is being negotiated? What is really happening on the international level, and where does Malaysia stand? Are we meeting our climate targets?”

Ways we can go green for World Environment Day (The Star, 2021)

““The lockdown has indeed proved to be a real challenge. When conservation groups abided by the necessary need to stay in, illegal logging, poaching, hill clearing, dumping of pollution and waste continued unabated. Hence, environmental groups must redefine the way they mobilise as, increasingly, battles are fought on the ground as well as in virtual space, ” says Teh, whose area of specialisation is natural resource management.”

Climate Change and the City (URBANICE, 2021)

“Evelyn Teh from Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim (JEDI) kindly accepted the opportunity to enlighten us about climate change, COP26, the concept of loss and damage and what it all means for us as urban communities. Is Malaysia ready to face present and future climate impacts? What can we do as individuals in response to this reality?”

Fishers struggle with land reclamation in Malaysia (China Dialogue, 2021)
”Evelyn Teh, a marine biologist and advisor to environmental non-profit Sahabat Alam Malaysia, has concerns about ecological damage to Penang. The coastal area would need to be dredged for a year, Teh says, after which “the mudflat will be gone.” If the development is completed “the whole shallow area [where] fishermen are catching fish, prawns and crabs will be completely buried under 4,500 acres [1,821 hectares] of islands.””

Reflections from the IUCN Global Youth Summit: Nature-based Solutions or Nature-based Excuses? (Youth4Nature, 2021)

“Nature-based Solutions have been “misused” in global environmental policy spaces (especially in climate contexts) to apply to activities that do not fit within the concept’s original intention. Guidelines have since been developed by a group of research institutions and civil society in the attempt to limit or eliminate this misuse and to ensure NbS can be effective for people and nature.”